Reviews by John_Henry:

Pours a lovely dark colour with a solid light brown head that is retained well leaving good lacing. The hops come threw on the nose, but not half as much as on the pallet. I'd guess NZ hops which have a great tang to them without being too bitter.

Listed as a black IPA, which is a great style, this could however equally be listed as a hoppy porter. Either way a great bear well worth hunting out. (399 characters)

A 500ml bottle with a BB of Dec 2011. Label mentions that notes of dark chocolate, pineapple and orange will present themselves....

Poured into a Duvel tulip. Very dark; appears black but deep ruby highlights are revealed when held to the light. Yields a huge head of light-brown foam with good retention; this slowly subsides to a surface layer. Aroma of fruity hops with notes of tropical fruit, citrus and pine, underpinned by sweetish malt, subtle coffee and yeast.

Tastes of aromatic hops with a dark malt backbone and powerful bitter finish. Notes of pine, citrus, tropical fruit, bitter chocolate, hints of coffee and roasted malt. Mouthfeel is smooth and tingly with considerable astringency. Full-bodied, but doesn't come across as heavy. A pleasant lingering aftertaste of aromatic hops.

Superb - a must try for any hop lover. Plenty going on, with stacks of aromatic notes and bitterness. I could drink this for hours... I've also tried this on cask, which is even better, but a fantastic beer in any format. (1,022 characters)

Had this thanks to an offering from Ty at Craft in Reno. Jet black, tan head, .8" in depth. Aroma was mild hops, miniscule roast, tobacco, ash.

Taste was a more bitter than usual English black ale, biscuity, high carbonation, probably leaned more grapefruit than pine in the flavor. Was actually pretty complex. High amount of toffee flavors. Nice tang smack to it. Seems to have a meld of old and new school hops. A relatively dry mouthfeel, something I don't normally associate with all the different and sometimes competing flavors to this beer. Any fruit flavors associated with this beyond grapefruit, seem to be overstated. I'm just not finding them.

Definitely a better than average black ale, this one really puts all the usual suspects from an ipa and a porter together. I think it works well, even if not really something I could drink a few of during a game on the telie. (886 characters)

Fairly dry, medium feel; a little more full than a normal IPA, but the bracing bitterness is more of a factor than any chewiness. Lively with very little sting.

This is a very good Black IPA that is right on the mark. Tons of hop character that is really highlighted, and a roasty malt character right at a perfect level for the style. It's a little bit drier in the flavor than I typically prefer, but I find that is often the case with English IPAs.

If you're a fan of Black IPAs, I'm not sure this would immediately jump right into your top 3, but neither do I think you'll be disappointed. (1,177 characters)

Quite black with some highlights around the edges but in general not much light passes through on top a finger of tiny bubbles falls to a thin layer that laces nicely. The smell is full of piney hops and some citrus hop as well, not much in the way of malt as the hops truly dominate. This is quite tasty as it starts with a good shot of pine and citrus hops which are backed with some caramel and chocolate malt but this is definitely hop focused. Smooth and roasty finish with some lingering hop bitterness, pretty low levels of carbonation that all combine to invite the next sip. I'm not a huge fan of Black ales or black IPAs but do enjoy this one, I'm yet to be disappointed by Thornbridge Brewery. (708 characters)